ABSTRACT
Starhead topminnow is a surface dweller commonly found in swamps, marshes, well-vegetated ponds and lakes, small streams, coffee-colored lowland lakes, wetlands, sloughs, and ditches. Starhead topminnows hatch at 6.4–7 mm as yolk-sac larvae and have median finfolds from which the median fins develop; by the time all remnants of finfold have been absorbed, the relative position of the dorsal and anal fins is apparent. The dorsal fin origin of western mosquitofish is behind or approximately even with the insertion of the anal fin; for starhead topminnows, the dorsal fin originates at a position that is no further posterior than the approximate middle of the anal fin. The dark lateral stripe or band characteristic of blackstripe and blackspotted topminnows begins to form by 7–8 mm total length and is lacking in starhead topminnows. Starhead topminnows feed on aquatic insects, crustaceans, and algae. Original habitat, morphometric, and early life history ecology data for starhead topminnow come from the Patoka River, IN.
